Plot: The new season will pick up in the aftermath of Season One’s epic finale and take audiences along for a journey through the wasteland of the Mojave to the post-apocalyptic city of New Vegas.
Review: The first season of Fallout was a welcome surprise. With video game adaptations no longer suffering under weak budgets and lackluster production values, the subgenre has become marquee entertainment thanks to projects like The Last of Us. Fallout blended the retro-futuristic appeal of the video game franchise while forging a completely original story set within the universe of the games. Led by Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins, and Aaron Moten, the first season of Fallout benefited from Jonathan Nolan’s credibility, which helped it reach a wider audience. Now, just over a year later, we have the second season continuing the story while expanding to familiar locations like New Vegas and showcasing fan-favorite factions, all while continuing to develop the journey of Lucy MacLean, Maximus, and The Ghoul as we learn more about what happened to the world. The sophomore run of Fallout is every bit as good as the first season and includes a balance of fan service and original explorations of the post-apocalypse that is as funny as it is fun.
Season two picks up after the showdown between Lucy (Ella Purnell), The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan) that sends them in different directions. While Lucy and The Ghould decide to track Hank towards Las Vegas, Maximus returns to the Brotherhood of Steel, where he is hailed a hero for seemingly killing Lee Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury). The season starts with the introduction of Robert House (Justin Theroux), the head of RobCo, a rival to Vault-Tec. How House factors into this season’s story unfolds across the season and is key in the first six episodes made available for this review. The division between focusing on Lucy’s journey and The Ghoul’s takes precedence over Maximus’ storyline, but both are deliberately scripted to converge narratively throughout the season. By dividing the trio who came together at the close of the first season, Fallout can explore new areas of the wastelands and introduce new factions familiar to players of the video games.
The season also returns to Vault 33, where the series began, and expands on the fate of the denizens left behind. This includes Lucy’s brother, Norm (Moises Arias), who receives a substantial increase in screen time this season, as his exploration of the true nature of the vaults parallels the discoveries of the other characters. The season also introduces Macauley Culkin and Kumail Nanjiani as new characters who seamlessly fit into the retro-futuristic world of Fallout. Many supporting characters from the first season, some of whom I didn’t think we would see again, are included in this new season, which adds to the world-building that this series does so well while also connecting plot threads that will have you going back and rewatching earlier episodes to see how they fit together. We also get game elements like supermutants and deathclaws, which are of significant importance to the season two narrative, rather than throwaway references. With Fallout already renewed for a third season, it is clear that this season is taking its time in developing the story and not rushing to include fan service. This helps the new season of Fallout feel like an inclusive and expansive world, rather than an attempt to capitalize on franchise recognition.
This season continues to benefit from the great Walton Goggins’ exploration of the dual nature of Cooper Howard/The Ghoul. Goggins has already delivered a standout performance in the third season of The White Lotus, but does even more impressive work in both flashbacks and contemporary scenes. As Cooper Howard, we see the tragic build-up to the apocalyptic bomb dropping event from the series premiere and how his wife, Barb (Frances Turner), factored into the end of the world. The emotional toll of his past plays into his present as Cooper’s transformation into The Ghoul becomes a tragic arc this season. Goggins and Ella Purnell share the most screen time this season, and it makes for some hilarious and action-packed viewing. Moises Arias gets a lot more to do this season compared to Aaron Moten, with Maximus feeling like a third-tier character. Balancing this many storylines is hard to d,o and in the episodes I have seen, the focus on Vault 33 and those who stayed there feels like it takes up far more screentime than it should. Nevertheless, with only two episodes left unseen, I have enjoyed the packed six episodes that seem to cover a lot more material than the entire first season.
While Jonathan Nolan does not direct any episodes of Season 2, duties are solidly handled by Frederick E.O. Toye on three episodes, Liz Friedlander and Stephen Williams on two episodes each, and Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy helms the sixth episode. Showrunners Geneva Robinson-Dworet and Graham Wagner wrote the premiere episode, with subsequent entries written by Chris Brady-Denton, Chaz Hawkins, Jane Espenson (Game of Thrones, Foundation), Owen Ellickson (The Office), and Dave Hill (The Wheel of Time). Each hour-long episode boasts the impressive production values we saw in the first season, with improved special effects across the board. The Ghouls’ make-up remains a highlight of the season, but the new supermutant and deathclaw characters are an impressive new addition to the mix. The soundtrack of old-school big band numbers adds to the unique look and tone of the world of Fallou,t with the entire Las Vegas set design an impressive treat for fans of the games. Even those with no experience playing the games will find this an engrossing world that is as fun to watch as it is to explore virtually.
Fallout is a rare series that can deliver video game action and violence in equal measure, accompanied by emotional and dramatic tension that ranks among the best in any television effort, regardless of genre. Yes, Fallout remains a violent and gory science-fiction world, but one that is also deeply rooted in great storytelling. Fallout is as funny as it is dramatic, and every guest star and new cast member is a fantastic addition to this world. Other than Game of Thrones or The Last of Us, there are few series that can transcend genre to appeal to as broad an audience as Fallout does. This is a brilliant series that improves on the first season and has me even more invested than I was before. Knowing that a third season is already on the way, I am eager to see how this season concludes and what audiences have in store. Fallout continues to sit at the top of the best video game adaptations of all time and may just have taken the crown.
Fallout premieres on December 16th on Prime Video.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
